After my death our beloved Church abroad will break three ways ... first the Greeks will leave us as they were never a part of us ... then those who live for this world and its glory will go to Moscow ... what will remain will be those souls faithful to Christ and His Church.~St. Philaret of NY

Sadly, NFTU has published an analytical report (from the jurisdictional ecumenist point of view) providing all the links to the very contentious letters that our chief hierarch has asked be removed. As of this notice at least one of the links has been disabled. I realize we Americans are short on the news, and it is slow in coming to us in English. But I ask, please, that we wait patiently to hear our news from our own people. -jh

Fall clean-up of grounds – The annual fall clean-up of the grounds will take place on Saturday November 1 at 10:30 am following the general panikhida at 10:00 am. In the case of bad weather, then on Sunday November 2 at 12:30. Please help clean up our church grounds and bring your rakes, shovels, shears and gloves. The more people that help, the quicker the work will be done.

As most of you are aware, Halloween is just right around the corner. It’s a time where children dress up as imaginary creatures and go around knocking on doors, hoping that their reward will be candy. Growing up, I was never allowed to participate in the tradition of dressing up and trick or treating. I remember my parents telling me that on this night, whenever a knock was heard, we weren’t allowed to open the door. I didn’t understand it at the time; I just thought Halloween was a universally accepted holiday, like Christmas or Easter. But now, I understand why my parents were so cautious about this one particular night. And I think it’s important that all Orthodox Christians – especially children – should understand the meaning behind Halloween.

Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, is a tradition that began in the pre-Christian times. The Celtic people, who were commonly pagans, believed that ‘life was born from death’. Thus, on the last day of October, they worshipped a deity called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), otherwise known as the Lord of death. On this night, sacrifices – animals or human – were made in order to appease Samhain, who in turn would lower the veil between the living and the dead, allowing the lost ones to be reunited the living for one night. The festival also included a bonfire of oak branches where the sacrifices were made and other rituals performed. Moreover, the custom of ‘trick or treat’ originated from people – in costume - visiting houses in exchange for food, so that the hunger of the dead would be satiated. If Samhain was not pleased with the offering, ‘tricks’ or curses would befall on those visitors.

It doesn’t sound very innocent, does it? The trouble with Halloween is that because of society, it has become heavily commoditised, shrouding the true meaning and covering it with money and profits. This makes it easier for children to see Halloween as a way to spend money and have fun, while ignoring the warnings. Fortunately, I haven’t experienced a traditional Halloween night, unlike the parades in Greenwich Village in the United States, and I don’t plan to. It feels wrong going against my belief in order to celebrate and revel in a night of darkness in order that a satanic deity could be appeased, all because everyone else around me is doing it.

That’s another problem with Halloween; it has become readily accepted by society, that it puts pressure on faithful Orthodox Christians to succumb to the temptation and darkness of Halloween. It puts pressure on Orthodox children to follow their peers’ footsteps, because to them, it’s ‘cool’. But we shouldn’t feel pressured to explain to our peers that we don’t celebrate Halloween because it goes against our faith. They should learn to embrace our values and respect our decisions, just as they expect us to respect their decisions.

Halloween is a pagan tradition that seeks to appease a satanic deity, and Orthodox Christians must learn to defend themselves against those who attempt to draw us into this celebration of evil.

Sophia Desiatov

Editor’s note: Orthodox Christians would do best to attend the All-night Vigil in honour of St John of Kronstadt on Friday night, rather than participate in pagan festivities!

From the liturgical viewpoint the life of an Orthodox Christian is composed of various cycles. First of all, there is the great cycle embracing a man's whole life from birth to death, from cradle to coffin. This consists in actions which are not repeated, but occur once only during the earthly existence of each person: baptism; chrismation or confirmation; burial. To this cycle belong also the sacraments or sacramental blessings which confer special grace for a particular office or vocation within the Christian community: marriage; monastic profession; holy orders. At the other extreme from this major sequence involving a Christian’s entire life, there is the daily cycle of prayers and praises offered by the Church once in every twenty-four hours. In the liturgical life of Orthodoxy, as with the Jews and other ancient peoples, the day is considered to begin at sunset.

Certain minor qualifications must be added. Under exceptional circumstances, chrismation may be repeated: for instance, an Orthodox who has (apostatized to Islam is received back into the Church by anointing with chrism. Second marriages occur after the death of the other partner or, less commonly, after divorce: but this is in some measure a departure from the strict norm. There are various degrees in monastic profession and holy orders: but no single degree is ever repeated, each being conferred once for all.)

Such is the basic daily pattern. To complete the series there may be added :

(i) The ‘Interhours'. During certain periods of fasting, each of the Hours (Gk. ωραι ; Slavonic, chasy) is followed by an intermediate office or ‘Interhour’ (Gk. μεσωριον ; Slavonic, mezhdochasie).

(ii) The Offices for the Blessing of the Table (a) at midday (b) in the evening.

(iii) Morning and Evening Prayers, and the general commemoration of the Living and the Dead which has its own liturgical form. These are of a more informal character than the other offices. They are read by lay people before the icons in their own homes; in monasteries they are sometimes recited by each member of the community individually in his or her cell, while in other cases they take a corporate form and are read aloud in chapel.

The Holy Liturgy is frequently included in this daily cycle: its place is normally after the Sixth Hour, but during fasts it is celebrated after Vespers. It is somewhat misleading, however, to treat the Liturgy as part of the daily cycle. In the first place, it is not in fact prescribed to be celebrated each day: according to Orthodox practice, except in cathedrals and large monasteries a daily Eucharist has always been the exception rather than the rule. Secondly, and more important, the Eucharist in its deeper reality does not properly belong to the ‘liturgy of time’, and therefore stands apart from the daily cycle. The celebration of the Lord's Supper is always an ‘eschatological’ event, in which the eschaton, the Age to Come, breaks in upon this present age: and so, although occurring in time, it transports the participants to a point altogether outside time – to the ‘heavenly places‘ where there is no past, present, or future, but only the eternal Now. The Eucharist, then, cannot simply be integrated into the temporal sequence nor set on a level with daily offices such as Matins and Vespers.

Connected with the Liturgy is the service of the Typica (Gk. τυπικα ; Slavonic, izobrazitelnaya), which is sometimes read after the Sixth Hour on days when there is no celebration of the Eucharist. (During the fasts after the Ninth Hour). On occasion it may also precede the Liturgy.

Obviously the great majority of Orthodox are not able to participate in the whole of the daily cycle. It is usually performed in its entirety only in monasteries, and even here there may be considerable abbreviations. In many parish churches Vespers and Matins are not celebrated daily, but only at weekends and at major feasts. On working days a devout lay Christian will be content to read the Morning and Evening Prayers, in a shorter or a fuller form according to the time at his disposal.

Between these two extremes—the daily sequence, and that of a man's entire life – there are three intermediate cycles which together comprise the Church’s Year:

(i) The weekly cycle of the Eight Tones.

(ii) The annual cycle of movable feasts, centered upon Pascha.

(iii) The annual cycle of fixed feasts, commencing on 1 September.

In daily worship these three cycles are combined together and superimposed one upon another, thus endowing the liturgical year with a constant and unfailing variety. The material for each cycle is contained in a special book or set of books:

• the weekly cycle in the Octoechos;

• the annual cycle of movable feasts in the Triodion and the Pentecostarion;

• the annual cycle of fixed feasts in the twelve volumes of the Menaia.

The idea is that a bloody, territorial conflict with no obvious solution is put on hold, with Russia stepping in to keep the peace on its own terms.

Moldova's breakaway territory of Trans-Dniester and Georgia's rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia were given as examples of this policy. ........................

It has to be said, too, that Russia is often regarded as a benefactor and protector by the people who actually live inside the "frozen conflict" zones, while many Russians feel a sense of duty towards expatriates and anyone "loyal" to the old USSR. ........................

"The original device in Crimea was not independence but greater autonomy as a semi-independent entity," says Sutyagin.

"When the Kremlin gave in to the temptation to annex Crimea, it became necessary to replace it with another conflict, in the east. It is against the Kremlin's interests to annex territory because an unresolved dispute gives it the opportunity to influence the country involved."

Nonetheless, Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine probably best exemplifies an "international dispute" of the kind cited by Nato's charter as an obstacle to membership.

Interview with Dr. Sam Vaknin, author of the bestseller Malignant Self-Love, the definitive book on clinical narcissism. Vaknin, in discussion with Brent Bedford and Matthew Ogden, emphasizes that Barack Obama's psychology mirrors that of Nero and Hilter

upon returning from missionary visits to Florida , Oklahoma, and Colorado, this is excerpted from his weekly message to his flock:

This council, as you most certainly know, was the definitive affirmation of the place in the Church of the holy icons and relics, after decades of bloody and not infrequently lethal persecutions. As such, it is the capstone, affirming the foundation of the Faith spelled out in all the preceding councils, bit by bit, as it became necessary: "What has not been attacked, the fathers have not defended." What could not, of course, be even imagined at that time is the current horror in which the ultimate heresy infects almost everything around us: It really doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe something -- if even that; every "version" of God is legitimate (so say the "Orthodox patriarchs" of Constantinople and Alexandria) -- and on and on.

So what are we to do? The answer is really very simple (if not so simple to accomplish!). Hold fast to what we have been taught. Accept nothing, even if it seem to be from an angel, which is at variance with the universal teachings of the holy Scriptures and the fathers. Live the Faith to the best of our feeble abilities, trusting in the goodness of the Lord to supply that which is lacking. And above all, love one another with a godly love, cherishing one another above all else in the Lord. Let us love one another that with one mind we confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Without that love, any "confession" is only empty sounds.

Official Declaration (Διακήρυξις) of the Sanctity of St. Ieronymos (Jerome) of Aegina

St. Gregory Palamas Monastery

On October 3, 2014 (Old Style), on the Island of Aegina, Greece, the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece celebrated the official Declaration of the Sanctity of the Elder Ieronymos of Aegina and the entering of his name among the Saints of the Orthodox Church (Ἁγιοκατάταξη). Somewhat imprecisely called the “Glorification” of a Saint, and wholly wrongly a Saint’s “Canonization,” this ecclesiastical act begins with the recognition, by the People of God, of a holy man or woman’s spiritual charisms, eminence, or miraculous deeds, followed by the Church’s acknowledgment thereof and his or her formal and official liturgical commemoration. The celebration held on Aegina, at the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries (built by Saint Ieronymos himself), was, indeed, the joyous culmination of this ancient process.

Saint Ieronymos was born Basil Apostolides in Karvali (in ancient times, Karbala), Cappadocia, or Güzelyurt (Gelveri, Kelveri), Turkey, in 1883. He was ordained in his native land and served as a Deacon at the Church of St. George in Constantinople. With the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey that was arranged at the Treaty of Lausanne in the 1920s, he found himself in Greece as a refugee, eventually ending up, after his Ordination as a Hieromonk in 1923, on the island of Aegina. He became known as a gifted confessor, a healer, serving as a hospital chaplain, and as a clairvoyant. In 1940, he returned to the Church (Old) Calendar, stating: “The Church of Greece, by changing the festal calendar, has become diseased, a change that was the beginning and cause of many evil things.” Without condemning anyone, and avoiding factionalism, he lived out the rest of his life as a monastic hermit, considered by all, Old and New Calendarists alike, to be a Saint. He reposed in 1966, and his funeral was served by Metropolitan Akakios of Attica and Diavleia, the oldest living Bishop of our Holy Synod.

See, at left, moments from the emotion-filled service celebrating the newly revealed Saint Ieronymos, presided over by Archbishop Kallinikos, with many of the Synod’s Hierarchs present, including His Grace, Bishop Auxentios of Photike. Photos: (At left, top to bottom, the Divine Liturgy; a number of the faithful, who spilled out into the courtyard, since the small Church could not accommodate them;) His Beatitude blessing those present with the Saint’s Relics; and the reliquary containing his Relics. Below, an Icon of Saint Ieronymos, capturing his humility and boundless love, having once commented: “I do not consider prayer offered by a person whose heart does not bleed with love and pain [for his fellow man] to rise up to God.”

A popular biography of the Saint, in which many of his sayings can be found, was written several decades ago by Petros Botses: Γέροντας ̔Ιερώνυμος, ὁἩσυχαστὴςτῆςΑἴγινας (Elder Ieronymos, the Hesychast of Aegina), published in Athens by the author in a number of editions. (We have used the 2006 edition.) An English translation, with various addenda, was published in 2007 by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline, MA.

Orthodox Christians should have NO participation in this "feast". If you have children in public schools exposed to such demon-inspired events, they should be kept home "sick" (not entirely a falsehood!) on the day(s) of "celebration".

Michael C., spokeman for the parish, welcomes visitors and wants to establish contact with other strugglers in our Churches. He writes:

We were so happy to finally meet Father Gregory, and to have him serve here. We see the recent union of the GOC with sister churches as nothing short of a miracle, which has brought us many smaller miracles/blessings along the way. Father Gregory's visit with us (Oct. 4-5) was one of those.

...Yes, the evil one never sleeps, and he knows our weaknesses and has centuries of experience against man and God. He will continue to try and divide us, so especially now - after the re-union of our groups, we need to remain firm, clear-headed, and sober.

"– and if you think I wouldn’t sue Christians, be comforted, o (enemy name slurred), by the fact that I truly no longer regard you as Christian."

The subject of this post is a real life example of something said by a narcissist. It is a narcissist's threat against his perceived enemy published publicly on the internet. The narcissist is a member of a group calling itself Orthodox, but which does not meet the criteria for a valid ecclesiastical body (Milan synod). During his rant against his perceived enemy the narcissist says,

"– and if you think I wouldn’t sue Christians, be comforted, o (enemy name slurred), by the fact that I truly no longer regard you as Christian."

In this example are a number of characteristics of typical narcissist-psychopath thinking: control, immunity, "dis-reason", and dehumanizing (lack of empathy). You will see how these characteristics form a chain in the thinking of a narcissist – how control slides into dehumanizing.

1. Control. If you do any studying of narcissism, you know the word "control" is always on the first page. For a narcissist it is all about control. The narcissist will use any and every means to control his victims. Psychological manipulation is one way of controlling others, appealing to higher authority is another way. The narcissist will often involve the parent, the principal, the boss, the police, the bishop, or the courts to help him "control" his victim. Some narcissists sue for a hobby – they always have at least one law suit in progress at any given time. However, no narcissist willingly plays a game on a stage he can't manipulate.

2. Immunity. The narcissist uses the rules to control his victim. He requires his victim to follow the rules, but he himself is exempt from the rules.* *UNLESS it is convenient for the narcissist to impose the rule on himself. An example of a narcissist imposing a rule on himself is that of another real-life "Orthodox" narcissist who refuses to work on Saturdays. He invokes the Biblical rule to keep the Sabbath and applies it to himself to justify why he can't help with the work on Saturdays. And then he feels superior for doing this.

3. "Dis-reason". This is my term – you won't find it in the psychology books. But there are pages and pages trying to describe it. Here it is in a nutshell in the above example. The Christian precept is that Christians are not supposed to take their personal grievances to the secular courts, to be judged by secular judges. In our example the narcissist twists that precept to somehow justify it for him to bring a lawsuit against somebody if they are not a Christian. But we who have normal reason have to ask, does he consider himself to be a Christian?

4. Dehumanizing. Let's look at the "dis-reason" in the narcissist's statement. For study purposes let's put the statement under a microscope and magnify certain words, exaggerating the example so that the movement contained in it becomes more visible.

Let's change the word "sue" to "murder".

•... if you think I wouldn't murder a Christian, be comforted ... I no

longer regard you as a Christian.

Now let's change the word "Christian" to "person".

•... if you think I wouldn't murder a person, be comforted ... I no

longer regard you as a human.

This is where the psychopath's thinking leads to. He is entirely self-justified for what he does to other people. His victims are not human to him. One of my favorite quotes from a serial killer,

"I had to kill her, she would not stop screaming."

Never mind the reason why she was screaming in the first place. He is entirely justified in his mind to do anything he needs to do to shut her up. For him it is a given that letting her go is not an option – that never occurs to him that she would stop screaming if he stopped hurting her. Taken further, with the serial killer, it turns out that he gets pleasure from seeing his victim in agony. Serial killer Tom Sells described it as a rush – a rush that a serial killer finds addicting. It is truly demonic.

ANOTHER CHARACTERISTIC of psychopath thinking (I don't have a word for it) is sometimes shown by odd subtleties of a malicious nature. Our example contains one of these:

"– and if you think I wouldn’t sue Christians, be comforted, o Enemy, by the fact that I truly no longer regard you as Christian."

"...be comforted" ? How incredibly odd.

What would fit here instead would be: be certain, be informed, be forewarned, or something of that nature...

This could be projection, or sarcasm. But it might also be something else. The narcissist-psychpoath is speaking to his enemy, but not directly – he has posted this on his blog. He can't even be certain his enemy will get the message. But his blog readers (Christians) surely will see it – maybe he said that for their sake.

We are seeing more and more narcissists and psychopaths in the world as demonic activity increases in these end times. Antichrist will be the ultimate psychopath. He will be loved by all and have demonic assistance in his popularity (charisma).

Unfortunately, after the February revolution of 1917, the Holy Synod agreed to change these texts, replacing the “Pious Ruler” with “Orthodox Christians". St John of Shanghai and San Francisco opposed this innovation, because the texts acquire a subtle difference in meaning, which again leads to people thinking differently regarding authority, about good and evil.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

How does the current civil war in the area of the world known as Ukraine relate to Russian patriotism and anti-communism? How does it relate to the battle between good and evil, between God and Satan? This question is troubling many in the Russian Church Abroad.

The answer is not simple, and many have attempted to state it. Ultimately, the answer must be spiritual, not tainted by sin or earthly passion.

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Matthew 24:6

The battle between good and evil

1. There exists a struggle between good and evil. That is, between God and the evil one. This struggle began before the creation of man, with the fall of Lucifer. It continued by implicating man – first of all, Eve, Adam, and later, every one of their descendants.

2. All current and past political conflicts are very much part of this battle.

3. The devil is a bodiless being that has not died (although as a spirit, he is not by nature immortal). His nature is such that he has gained immense experience in how to deceive humans.

Due to demonic influence, our human reasoning is usually tainted by evil to some degree. This applies to all forms of conflict, and most especially, to war.

4. Most people are implicated in evil unconsciously. However, some people choose to serve evil consciously. Such are magicians, sorcerers, fortune-tellers, Satanists, masons, members of other secret societies that serve evil. It is important to understand that such secret societies with truly evil agendas have great power in the modern world (as they have had for hundreds of years). This power may be hidden to many simple people. Both spirits and men who serve evil usually strive to hide this service, so that their victims – those who wish to serve good (Christians) – would be deceived into serving evil.

5. Christians must always strive to be in God, with God, and for God – for good. But how do we know what is good?

6. The world is not simple. Spiritual reality is very much a part of the “real world”, to such an extent that evil spiritual deception clouds our understanding in most, if not all areas of life.

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

Luke 22:31

7. The Gospel and the Tradition of the Church can tell us what is good. For man, it is good to prepare his soul for Heaven, through good works (as defined in the Gospels) and repentance for evil deeds, thoughts, and feelings.

8. Alas, the individual Christian is subject to deception even in how he reads and understands Scripture! Evil never stops influencing us, never abandons its aim of separating us from God, and separating us from our brothers. As the saying goes: “The devil does not sleep”. This is how we know what side we are on:

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

1 John 3:10

Earthly government

9. Earthly movements (such as political movements) are never fully good – they are of this world, and this world lies in evil (1 John 5:19). This world is becoming more and more evil, as we near the end of time.

10. The closest an earthly government can be to fulfilling God’s will, is the case of an Orthodox Kingdom, with a pious Tsar or King crowned by the Church by the will of God. This is the teaching of the Orthodox Church. However, we have not had this organisation of government for a long time… The Byzantine and Russian Empires are well-known examples of Orthodox Kingdoms.

11. From history, we know that not even all crowned Tsars were “good”. The crowned Tsars are attacked very much by the evil one, and many of them succumbed to evil to some degree. The devil always conducts intense warfare against those in high places and in power.

12. The Holy Church commanded Her children to pray for the Tsar, not only in the ektenias, but also in many troparions and canons, most notably the tropar to the Holy Cross:

Unfortunately, after the February revolution of 1917, the Holy Synod agreed to change these texts, replacing the “Pious Ruler” with “Orthodox Christians". St John of Shanghai and San Francisco opposed this innovation, because the texts acquire a subtle difference in meaning, which again leads to people thinking differently regarding authority, about good and evil.

What inspires our political ideas?

13. Today, many Orthodox Christians are being deceived by the evil one into thinking that one or the other world power, or government, is ultimately on “the side of good” against evil. This stance is unfortunate for Christians. If Orthodox Tsars fell, then how much more vulnerable are modern atheist politicians to succumb to evil?

14. Many consider it important to write about their opinions. The enemy persuades people that they understand what is happening, that they have the “correct information” from the most “reputable sources”. Alas! The Christian does not realize that the evil one is playing with him, working him up over things of this world.

The nets for my mind are set out in various books calling themselves light, but containing teachings of darkness, written under the open or hidden influence of dark and evil world ruler… as the Apostle expresses it: “vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind” (Col 2:18)….

St Ignaty Brianchaninov, Vol1 1, Nets of the world ruler

15. Some Christians, of various convictions, would even force their political opinion on the Church. They demand statements from the Church in favour of one or the other side of conflict, of a government or ruler. In this case, the Christian has unconsciously made his political view an idol, which he wishes the Church would also serve.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

1 John 5:21

16. Political and worldly opinions are not forbidden for a Christian – however, he is obligated to understand that the Law of God, love for every brother (regardless of this brother’s opinions), and obedience to the Church come before any political opinions.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

John 3:19

17. The Evil One has always been at work to deceive the people of God. Even more so in the last times. Christians have always been of the opinion that it is the last times, and that a great struggle is occurring between God and Satan.

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 John 2:18

18. The Church teaches that the world most definitely will end – when, we know not and cannot know. However, the closer we come to the end of the world, the more evil the world will become, and the less will worldly movements have fellowship with God.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Revelation 20:7-8

In the end times, Satan controls all nations – he is the one who guides all sides of any conflict. Taking sides becomes senseless.

The Christian’s struggle against political temptation

19. The Christian’s aim is to abide with God forever. Our exit from the world may be through death, or through the end of the world – in either case, we will have to personally answer for our deeds, as judged by the Gospel.

(Christ) gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Galatians 1:4

20. Christ commands us to pray:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

Matthew 6:13

The Holy Church commands us to repeat this prayer numerous times every day. The Holy Church teaches this because She knows that temptation and the devil are very real forces influencing every person, every group of people, every parish, every city, nation, and country.

21. Therefore, every Christian must understand that he is subject to temptation. If a Christian believes his political view of the world is without sin, and that only others are deceived in their political views, this very fact is proof of his own deception.

Spiritual deception is a multifaceted and more complex than the simple form of misinformation, or dishonesty of biased journalists.

Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

Luke 22:40

22. If we fall prey to the evil one’s schemes, be it on the fleshly, psychological, social, or political level, we are in the process of falling away from God, even if we at first accepted Him and were baptised. Those who fall away from God, if they do not repent, will be condemned… Let us not be as these ones, who do not see temptation, and when they happen to fall into it, pridefully refuse to repent!

…..“And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.

Mark 4:17

23. Only at the Great Judgment will it be clear who remained faithful to God, and who did not. It is not for us, blind and deceived sinners, to define which ones of our brothers is a sinner and deceived.

So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just

58. Just as parents have a special affection for the children who are the fruit of their own bodies, so the intellect naturally clings to its own thoughts. And just as to passionately fond parents their own children seem the most capable and most beautiful of all -- though they may be quite the most ridiculous in every way -- so to a foolish intellect its own thoughts appear the most intelligent of all, though they may be utterly degraded. The wise man does not regard his own thoughts in this way. It is precisely when he feels convinced that they are true and good that he most distrusts his own judgment. He makes other wise men the judges of his thoughts and arguments -- lest he should run, or may have run, in vain (cf. Galatians 2:2) -- and from them receives assurance.

AD

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THE SISTER CHURCHES

The True Orthodox Churches of Romania, and Bulgaria, and with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and with the Synod in Resistance, are called by the Grace of the Lord to coexist in Mysteriological communion.

from §4 of “Schedule of Steps in the Union Process” Feb. 2014

VL AGAFANGEL PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Theotokos and all the Saints: keep our souls unharmed from the destructive influences of globalism, ecumenism, and sergianism, and give all of us the strength to endure the latest onset of persecution of the Church of Christ. Amen

QUOTE

"I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you... I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you.”

St. John Chrysostom

QUOTE

"If we have a good priest (or bishop), we give thanks to God. If a bad one, we endure him".

- old Russian saying

QUOTE

"And here is something to which I would like to draw your attention to – something about which very many do not think about. Father Archimandrite Constantine, whom probably many of you know, the reposed editor of the journal “Orthodox Rus’”, a profound Christian mind, considered that the most terrible among all the achievements of the communists was that the communists created their own false-church, a soviet church which they shoved onto the unfortunate people in place of the genuine Church which went underground into the catacombs. Do not think that I am exaggerating or that Father Constantine was exaggerating!

Once, in the year 1918, a Pan-Russian Church Council was held. At this Council, the entire Pan-Russian Church together with its first holy hierarch, Patriarch Tikhon anathematized, excommunicated from the Church not only the theomachists and godless ones themselves, but also all those who would collaborate with them."

~St. Philaret of NY

QUOTE

"To the Russians abroad, it has been granted to shine in the whole world with the light of Orthodoxy, so that other peoples, seeing their good deeds, might glorify our Father Who is in heaven, and thus obtain salvation for themselves. But if it does not perform this purpose and even abases Orthodoxy by its life, the Diaspora will have before itself two paths: either to be converted to the path of repentance, having acquired forgiveness through prayer to God and being reborn spiritually and to being capable of giving rebirth to our suffering homeland; or else being rejected by God and remaining in banishment, persecuted by everyone, until gradually it will degenerate and disappear from the face of the earth."

from Vladika John's report to the All-Diaspora Sobor in 1938

QUOTE

The apostasy of our times, to a degree unique in Christian history, is proceeding not primarily by false teachings or canonical deviations, but rather by a false understanding of Orthodoxy on the part of those who may even be perfectly Orthodox in their dogmatic teaching and canonical situation. A correct "Orthodoxy" deprived of the Spirit of true Christianity—this is the meaning of Sergianism, and it cannot be fought by calling it a "heresy," which it is not, nor by detailing its canonical irregularities, which are only incidental to something much more important.

- Russia's Catacomb Saints

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Let it not be thought, however, that I affirm that it is necessary to prize every peace. For I know that there is a splendid disagreement and the most destructive unanimity. Yet one must love a good peace which has a good purpose: unity with God.

-St. Gregory the Theologian

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... To pious Christians the fact that the world has fallen into godlessness is to them obvious, and they are ready to see it as an unfortunate historical inevitability ...

Professor Viktor Trostinkov

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If you want to have assurance that you are saved, repent now that you are young and healthy and it is manifest that you left sin while you were still able to sin. But if you persevere in sin into your old age, why then you did not leave sin, but rather sin left you.

St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

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Live in peace not only with your friends, but also with your enemies; but only your personal enemies, and not the enemies of God.

St. Theodosius of the Kiev Caves

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Judge not according to appearances, but judge righteous judgment.

St. John 7:24

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"If Russia is not ressurrected, a new Golgotha threatens the whole world."

Priest Vladimir Evsukoff 1980†

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A man who does not express a desire to link himself to the latest of the saints (in time) in all love and humility owing to a certain distrust in himself, will never be linked to the preceding saints and will not be admitted to their succession, even though he thinks he possesses all possible faith and love for God and for all His saints. He will be cast out of their midst, as one who refused to take humbly the place allotted to him by God before all time, and to link himself to that latest saint (in time) as God had disposed.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

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SCOBA, to which world orthodoxy gives such great significance, reproaching us for not belonging to it, actually is in no way a canonical organ. The Russian Church Outside of Russia was invited to take part in these conferences; however, our Church refused to send representatives there after clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate were invited. "We never and nowhere will sit at one table with them; by this our spiritual communion with the Universal Church is not broken."

Archpriest George Grabbe 1969

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"Let us always thank the Lord that we are in the Holy Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which throughout the 80 years of its existence has trodden the straight, royal path of God, without ever turning aside and losing its way."

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The passions lying hidden in the soul provide the demons with the means of arousing impassioned thoughts in us. Then, fighting the intellect through these thoughts, they force it to give its assent to sin. When it has been overcome, they lead it to sin in the mind; and when this has been done they induce it, captive as it is, to commit the sin in action. Having thus desolated the soul by means of these thoughts, the demons then retreat, taking the thoughts with them, and only the spectre or idol of sin remains in the intellect. Referring to this our Lord says, 'When you see the abominable idol of desolation standing in the holy place (let him who reads understand)... (Matt 24:15). For man's intellect is a holy place and a temple of God in which the demons, having desolated the soul by impassioned thoughts, set up the idol of sin. That these things have already taken place in history no one, I think, who has read Josephus will doubt; though some say that they will also come to pass in the time of the Antichrist.

Philokalia

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There are three things that impel us towards what is holy: natural instincts, angelic powers, and probity of intention. Natural instincts impel us, when, for example, we do to others what we would wish them to do to us (cf. Luke 6:31), or when we see someone suffering deprivation or in need and naturally feel compassion. Angelic powers impel us when, being ourselves impelled to something worthwhile, we find we are providentially helped and guided. We are impelled by probity of intention when, discriminating between good and evil, we choose the good.

Philokalia

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The outward Gospel of social idealism is a symptom of loss of faith.

Fr. Seraphim Rose

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Impurity of intellect consists first in having false knowledge, ...

Philokalia

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Isn't Marx really the third of a trio with Darwin and Freud as a practical source in the war against revealed truth?

Fr. Seraphim Rose

Letters, 1972

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To: ROCA members from the MP

"You have to understand that you have long been in a false church, which implants in its members' souls, a false spirituality, which in turn takes root and grows stronger and stronger, the longer a man stays in it."

Bishop Athanasius, 2014

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Mankind has gone mad, and we see with horror the abyss into which it is being drawn. Let us lay aside every worldly care, and let us fall down in prayer and readiness for the dread Judgment of the Lord. Death will not come with bombs and poisons. Death has already come and take up residence with us and in us, and has made corpses of us, Mammon has overwhelmed this sinful world, which is dominated by Queen Science, Lucifer himself, which with one hand makes medicines and machines for man's foolish happiness and with the other terrorizes him by means of the bomb! Such is the sorry state of knowledge and the agony of the world through and through. Let us lift up our hearts.

-Photios Kontoglou (†1965) letter to Dr. Cavarnos dated 5/10/57

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"Psychopaths are a superior subspecies. We transcend humanity. We are Nature's Supermen. We deserve the subservience and availability of everyone around us. Luckily, every year 100-million people are born throughout the world. We have 100-million new choices every year."

-Sam Vaknin, self-realized psychopath

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Our Saviour placed the Church in the world in order to save the world, and Satan is always trying to place the world into the Church in order to destroy the Church.

attributed to Desert Fathers

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"If you see lying and hypocrisy, expose them in front of all, even if they are clothed inpurple and fine linen."

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